Friday, March 18, 2011

The Cross as an Instrument of Social Transformation

For early Friends, the Cross was both a personal discipline and a method of social change. Once we accept the Cross and live in its power, we are freed to become effective instruments for "mending the world." As William Penn made clear:

The Cross of Christ.....truly overcomes the world, and leads a life of purity in the face of its allurements.... they receive power from Christ their Captain, to resist the evil, and do that which is good in the sight of God; to despise the world, and love its reproach above its praise; and not only not to offend others, but love those that offend them....True godliness don't turn men out of the world, but enables them to live better in it, and excites their endeavor to mend it.

For Penn, the Cross is a liberating experience. It empowers us to do God's will with the courage of a soldier. It frees us from worrying about what other people think of us. It is not an object for mere contemplation; rather, it excites our desire to end oppression and suffering in the world.

Throughout its history, Quakerism has produced men and women who have indeed lived under the Cross. They risked and sacrificed much in order to make this world a better place. They devoted themselves to their families and to those in need. They ministered to members of their meetings. They visited prisoners, fed the hungry, protested war and injustice. They experienced and shared the liberating power that comes from selfless service.

Are we willing to take up our Cross, as did early Friends, and make sacrifices and take risks for the sake of our beliefs? Without acknowledging the Cross and its teaching, we may forget that genocide and oppression and other social ills begin in our own hearts, and must be confronted there on a daily basis. We may ignore the fact that people like Jesus and George Fox "stirred up God's good trouble," and that we are called to take similar risks. Without the Cross, religion can become a tranquilizer, a pain-killer, or a sleeping-pill. The Cross is a wake-up call from God, rousing us from the troubled sleep of apathy into a new day of social commitment and love.

2 comments:

It is difficult to understand precisely what is meant by "the Cross" in this brief statement, or to grasp what the writer understands by ideas like "taking up our Cross", or "accepting and living in the power of the Cross". Does it mean accepting a certain package of theological assertions about inescapable sin mitigated only by the redemptive suffering and death of the son of God and of salvation only available through this one means and only for the believer? Does this kind of prescriptive, rationalistic theology stand as the doorway to the only authentic experience of living in the world in a peaceful, compassionate, constructive, other-serving way? As Penn said, "True religion don't turn men out of the world. . .", but men have said the same about philosophy, or depth psychology, or the creative arts. If the writer wants his idea of the Cross to have more substance than a particular theological prescription, he would serve himself and us better by being a bit more explicit about what this idea means to him and why Quakers like him and me have any particular access to it.In Friendship,Delaware Quaker

Dear Delaware Quaker, Thanks for your thoughtful comments. This entry is part of a larger series in which I try to make clear that "the Cross" is used as a metaphor for self-sacrifical Love. I am a Univesalist, not an exclusivist Christian. I believe that Buddhists who take seriously the Bodhisattva oath ("sentient beings are numberless, I vow to save them all") are living "under the Cross." So do those of other faiths who live a life of selfless service. It's not a matter of dogma, but of faithful living, as I tried to make clear:

"Throughout its history, Quakerism has produced men and women who have indeed lived under the Cross. They risked and sacrificed much in order to make this world a better place. They devoted themselves to their families and to those in need. They ministered to members of their meetings. They visited prisoners, fed the hungry, protested war and injustice. They experienced and shared the liberating power that comes from selfless service."

About Anthony Manousos

I am a Quaker peace activist, teacher and author, my most recent book being "Transformative Quakers" and "Howard and Anna Brinton: Reinventors of Quakerism in the 20th century." I serve on the board of directors for several organizations, including the Friends World Committee for Consultation and Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace. I love biking, hiking in the mountains, going to museums and art galleries, Classical music, jazz, and being with friends. For twelve years I edited a Quaker magazine called "Friends Bulletin" (now called "The Western Friend") and edited four books and wrote several pamphlets for Quakers. I have taught at numerous colleges and universities, including Carleton College, Rutgers, Pepperdine, UC San Bernardino, San Bernardino Valley College, etc. I am a certified spiritual director through a spiritual direction program called "Stilpoint." I reside in Pasadena with wife Jill Shook, who has published a book on affordable housing (makinghousinghappen.com). We have a lovely garden, citrus and fig trees, a grape arbor, cats named Miss Rosie and Dr. Pepper, and three Arucana chickens.